Smart Grid Facilitation Act of 2007

(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)

Smart Grid Facilitation Act of 2007 - Title I: Smart Grid and Demand Response - Subtitle A: Smart Grid - (Sec. 101) Declares it is the policy of the United States: (1) to support the modernization of the electricity transmission and distribution system to incorporate digital information and controls technology and to share real-time pricing information with electricity customers; and (2) that electricity purchasers are entitled to receive information about the varying value of electricity at different times and places, and that states shall not prohibit nor erect unreasonable barriers to the provision of such information flows to end users.

Instructs the Secretary of Energy and federal agencies to support and deploy Smart Grid technologies.

(Sec. 102) Directs the President to establish a Grid Modernization Commission (Commission) to: (1) facilitate adoption of Smart Grid practices across the nation's electricity grid to the point of general adoption and ongoing market support in the U.S. electric sector; (2) assess, with biannual updates, the progress toward modernizing the electric system from generation to ultimate electricity consumption, including implementation of "smart grid" technologies; and (3) make related recommendations to Congress and the President.

(Sec. 104) Instructs the Secretary of Energy to: (1) establish a Smart Grid Investment Matching Grant Program to provide reimbursement of one-fourth of qualifying Smart Grid investments; (2) conduct programs to deploy advanced techniques for measuring peak load reductions and energy efficiency savings on customer premises from smart metering, demand response, distributed generation and electricity storage systems; and (3) establish demonstration projects specifically focused on advanced technologies for power grid sensing, communications, analysis, and power flow control, including the integration of demand-side resources into grid management.

(Sec. 106) Directs the Commission to develop and declare a standard for the collection, presentation, and delivery of information to electricity purchasers.

Directs the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to propose a rule under which all public utilities (including the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Bonneville Power Administration, and the federal power administrations), with respect to federally jurisdictional sales for resale of electricity in interstate commerce, and all approved regional transmission organizations subject to FERC jurisdiction, will implement relevant elements of such standard that add value for purchasers of wholesale power or those utilizing interstate transmission.

(Sec. 107) Amends the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) to require electric utilities, before undertaking investments in non-advanced grid technologies, to demonstrate that alternative investments in advanced grid technologies have been considered.

Requires such utilities to be permitted to recover from ratepayers: (1) the capital and operating costs incurred for a Smart Grid system; and (2) the remaining book-value costs of equipment rendered obsolete by deployment of such a system.

Requires electric utility rates to: (1) align utility incentives with the delivery of cost-effective energy efficiency; and (2) promote energy efficiency investments.

Requires all electricity purchasers to be provided direct access by their electricity provider to daily information regarding prices, usage, intervals and projections, and sources.

Requires state regulatory authorities and nonregulated utilities to reconsider specified standards to take into account Smart Grid technologies.

(Sec. 108) Instructs the Secretary of Energy to report to Congress on the impact of Smart Grid systems on improving the security of the nation's electricity infrastructure and operating capability.

Subtitle B: Demand Response - (Sec. 111) Amends the National Energy Conservation Policy Act (NECPA) to require federal agencies to reduce their aggregate peak electricity demand, or make such amounts available in the form of demand response, by the percentage amount set forth in a specified Federal Electricity Peak Demand Reduction Standard.

Directs the Commission to: (1) conduct and report to Congress on a National Assessment of Demand Response; and (2) implement a National Action Plan on Demand Response.

Instructs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to report to Congress on environmental attributes and impacts of demand response and smart grid systems.

Authorizes appropriations for FY2010.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov